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May 25, 2012
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The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
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May 22, 2012
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Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
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May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
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May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
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The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
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Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
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Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
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Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
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Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
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The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
Oct. 24, 2005
/ 21 Tishrei, 5766
Corporate media colonize Internet
By
Edward Wasserman
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
News that America Online, the faded prodigy of the early Internet era, has paid more than $15 million for a baby company consisting of 85 blogs is like an expo of abstract art: There's something to it, but you're not sure what.
The company that AOL bought is Weblogs Inc. Network, which was started by a pair of Manhattan tech visionaries in 2004. They realized that the online content originated by bloggers whether commentary, geeky expertise, participatory journalism or idiosyncratic musings not only could command an audience, but could work for advertisers. So they gathered a bunch of bloggers together, offered them equity in the new company the blogs would constitute most opted for weekly paychecks, which may not have been wise and arranged to sell ads on the blogs to venturesome advertisers.
Comes now AOL, the online pioneer that had such dazzling success recruiting subscribers that at the height of the dot.com bacchanal it was able to buy one of the world's truly colossal media conglomerates. Those days are gone. No longer the dashing suitor that swept up Time Warner in 2000, AOL lately has been the dissolute ex, snoring on the couch with the TV on, unable to sleep off its fling with obsolete dial-up technology. So on one level, AOL's buy-in to the blogosphere is a canny move to buy back some of its mojo.
Tech bubble redux?
On another level, it's one more sign of the keen interest of big time, corporate media and few are as big time and corporate as Time Warner, AOL's former conquest and current master in colonizing the Internet with outposts through which to harvest value that eludes existing operations. Rupert Murdoch's giant News Corp. in July paid $580 million for the owner of MySpace.com, a two-year-old social networking bazaar that's the country's fifth-most viewed Internet site. VNU, the big Dutch owner of Adweek, Billboard and Nielsen's Ratings, signed a deal for European rights to Gawker Media, another blog aggregator. VNU will translate and distribute Gizmodo, a popular blog for tech enthusiasts, and will hire local bloggers for original content.
Still another, more skeptical perspective is that this is a reprise of the Tech Bubble of the late '90s: Greed-addled, deep-pocket money overpays for hyped-up businesses with huge promise and no future. ''The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable,'' as Oscar Wilde said of the English country gentleman galloping after a fox.
Now, though, the business plan is clear, and the revenues are flowing. Internet advertising is up 15 percent over last year. MySpace.com reportedly claimed $79 million in revenues last year, and Weblogs was getting $1 million a year just from ads that rode to its blogs from Google clicks.
Great. So does this mean that the future of the blogosphere, the wildest and least inhibited frontier of the information empire, rests on turning itself into another marketing channel? That the most original and least corporate voices of cyberspace can be financially sustained or ''monetized,'' in the groovy lingo of the New Economy only by having sandwich boards hung on them?
That would be sad. After 15 years of hearing that the Internet should be ''free,'' we would discover that freedom's just another word for nothing left but sales. It's the same Orwellian claptrap the TV network bosses offer when they praise ''free TV.'' They don't mean free. They mean commercial, engineered to sell us things. They mean clever new ways to insinuate buy messages into programming itself.
Weblogs' founders insist they'll maintain editorial control and ads won't influence content. They're dreaming. Of course the bloggers won't shill for advertisers. That would be obvious and ineffective and would rob the sites of credibility. That's not the danger.
Attracting advertisers
The corruption isn't that crude. Will the AOL-run weblogs look to hire bloggers who are attracting audiences of interest to advertisers? Naturally. And will it prefer those to the truly independent, the ones who might advise you not on what to buy but against buying anything, or who draw people who don't have the money or inclination to be customers?
You bet. Everywhere, the Internet is turning into the most skillfully calibrated marketing instrument since people first made money that folds. The whole logic of commercialization ensures a privileged platform for whatever moves products. That logic creates both noise and silences, loud benefits and quiet costs. It's why none of this is free.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Edward Wasserman is a writer and consultant who lives in Miami. He wrote this column for The Miami Herald.Comment by clicking here.
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